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Originally posted by Alasdair:
Thanks to everyone so much when I asked for help with the embroidery questions. Now I have a new one for you. I am teaching myself to knit, and plan to make some wool socks/stockings to wear with my boots. Could anyone tell me what size/type of needles to use, as well as what stitch methods are appropriate for late 15th century?
Thanks in advance,
Alasdair

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Yes. Your best bet right now is to hunt down a copy of the OOP "History of Hand Knitting" by Rutt, available at some University libraries, or thru ILL. I looked into this the other year while working on a documentation packet for MTA (see the 'events' category for discussion of MTA). This is a small capsule of what I found, with bibliography:

Knitting was known during the 15th century, but from all evidence it was confined only to knit caps and ecclesiastical gloves and purses. Knitting originated in the Middle East and slowly spread north into Europe. By
the 13th and 14th centuries, it had reached France, Switzerland, Germany, and Spain. There are 6 knit relic purses from Switzerland, all knit of silk. Several examples of knit silk ecclesiastical gloves from the 14th and 15th centuries are known. Paintings of the Madonna knitting clothing are seen around 1400. In the Buxtehude Madonna by Master Bertram of Minden, the Madonna is shown knitting a shirt using four needles, but there are no known contemporary examples of such shirts. All knit items known thus far were knit in the round. There is no evidence of knit hose, stockings, girdles, secular gloves, or gaiters.

There is, however, good evidence of knit caps as common in late 15th century England. Excavations from Londorevealed two sections of knit material, knit in the round using stockinette-stitch, dyed with madder, which are believed to be from caps. Marjorie Clator of Rippon was listed as a cap-knitter in 1465, and licenses were given to cap-knitters in Nottingham in 1478. In 1488, the Capper's Act fixed prices of knit caps. Unfortunately, no caps have survived from the 15th century, and the best approximation which can be made for their shape and construction are several 16th century caps. These caps are woolen, and have a skull-cap shape, some with ear flaps. Some 16th century caps were flat caps with a narrow brim. All of the London caps from the 16th century were moulded, felted, and napped, and most were dyed a dark brown or black, although some were dyed with madder. These caps were not knit at home, but were an industry into themselves.

_A History of Hand-Knitting_ Richard Rutt, BT Batsford, Ltd, 1987, 0-7134-5118-1
( gives a good, critical discussion of evidence of knit garments from early Egyptian to modern )

_Textiles and Clothing: Medieval Finds from Excavations in London, 1150-1450_, E. Crowfoot. HMSO, 1992.
(has archaeological finds from the 14th cent, info on yarn size & techniques)

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Originally posted by Alasdair:
Nikki, thanks for the info. If socks/stockings weren't knitted, what were they made of? I know Chef de Chambre (Bob) mentioned something to me about a type of stocking being worn under boots and with 'footless' hose. Could someone steer me in the right direction (again)? Thanks.

[This message has been edited by Alasdair (edited 02-23-2001).]

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all of the extant examples I know of (which arent many) are made of heavily fulled woven wool.

Apparently the Bible says something about Christ wearing a "seamless garment". The only way to get a literally "seamless garment" if for it to be knit in the round. JKV correct me if I'm wrong, but art scholars and costume historians agree that any time Mary is shown knitting this seamless shirt for the baby Jesus, it's a reference to the Biblical quote, not a representation of a literal fact.

Also, my reading indicates that the "seamless" gloves and mittens worn by the clergy were derivative of this "seamless garment" worn by Christ, and are an evolved vestigal garment worn by Christ's vicars. I believe these gloves were worn only by Bishops and the Pope, not the lower orders.

Now as far as knitted socks there is an extant pair of naalbound socks. While I agree that naalbinding is not the same as knitting, they *are* related needle arts. I don't know of any knitted socks that have survived, but I'm not ready to say they were NEVER knitted. One could not of course enter a pair of knitted socks in a judged contest like MTA, but my gut feeling is if they were knitting hats, someone, somewhere was knitting socks.

Just my opinion, of course!

The Rutt book doesn't give evidence against, just presents areas in which evidence was lacking....and the 15th cent tends to be a giant sucking vortex of lack of evidence. So, while there isn't any evidence for use of knit hose, that doesn't necessarily mean much. It certainly seems from the spread of knitting guilds and laws about the price of knit caps, and the import of knit gloves and such, that knitting was an expanding market in the late 15th century....maybe early 16th century info on knit hose (which is available, I recall seeing discussion in the Rutt book, and also in a book called _The History of Hosiery_, whose author I can't remember) would be helpful here.

I've got a pair of knit hose, a knit cap, and knit hose that my mother knit for me while I was trying to research the whole subject of knitting. The knit hose as not as comfortable as my woven hose, IMO, but I don't like knit socks in general as a texture issue.